Glencore says offer for miner Xstrata is 'fair'

Commodity giant Glencore insisted Monday that its takeover offer for Swiss-based miner Xstrata that would create a commodities behemoth is at a fair price despite some calls for an increase."This is a merger of equals. We believe that the price given for Xstrata is a fair price. A merger of equals generally doesn't give a premium," Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg told AFP in an interview from Baar, Switzerland.

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Commodity giant Glencore has offered a "fair price" to shareholders of the Swiss-based mining group Xstrata as part of a merger deal, Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg said on Monday."This is a merger of equals. We believe that the price given for Xstrata is a fair price. A merger of equals generally doesn't give a premium," Glasenberg told AFP in an interview from Baar, Switzerland."It's now up to the shareholders to accept or reject," he added.

Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore Wednesday announced a takeover bid for Australian nickel miner Minara, its first major play since listing in London and Hong Kong.The off-market cash bid for the 27 percent of Minara's shares Glencore does not already own, values the cobalt and nickel firm at Aus$1.02 billion (US$1.07 billion), or 87 cents a share.Glencore said the offer was a "substantial premium to Minara's recent trading price and an attractive exit opportunity" for shareholders after the miner reported a 31.2 percent drop in half-year profit to Aus$27.3 million.

MELBOURNE— Rio Tinto rejected a merger approach from smaller rival Glencore Plc to create a $160 billion mining and trading giant in August just as the price of its most profitable product, iron ore, hit a five-year low.
The miner said on Tuesday Glencore had contacted it about a potential merger in July, adding that it turned Glencore down in August and there had been no further contact between the companies on a deal.
A merger would have created the world’s biggest miner, supplanting BHP Billiton.

NEW OFFER: Glencore revised its offer for Xstrata, saying the Anglo-Swiss miner's chief executive, Mick Davis, can lead the merged company for six months before handing over the reins to the Swiss commodities trader's Ivan Glasenberg. On Friday, Glencore had said it wanted its CEO to lead the company.